Dataview: query your vault like a database
Dataview is the plugin ranked #3 by measured downloads. For this page we pulled the official GitHub repository's README and manifest, plus the official download-count data, directly — and cover what it does, how much it is used, and its four query modes, limited to what we could actually verify.
What does the Dataview plugin do?
Dataview turns your vault into something you can query like a database. Metadata you write in a note's frontmatter or as inline fields becomes queryable through four modes: TABLE, LIST, TASK and DataviewJS. Per the official download-count data (fetched August 22, 2026), it has 4,805,635 downloads and ranks #3 within that data (the registry itself lists 6,840 plugins, but that is a separate file from the one the ranking is computed over).
That said, visible feature work appears to have stopped after April 2025 (details below). It is not broken, but it is more accurate to think of it as stable rather than actively evolving.
Measured: downloads and release status
We fetched community-plugin-stats.json from Obsidian's official distribution (GitHub: obsidianmd/obsidian-releases) and manifest.json from Dataview's own repository (GitHub: blacksmithgu/obsidian-dataview) directly into this environment via raw.githubusercontent.com.
| Item | Measured value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Downloads & rank | 4,805,635 (#3 within the download-count data; Excalidraw #1, Templater #2) | community-plugin-stats.json |
| Plugins in the registry | 6,840. This is a different file from the one the ranking is computed over — slightly fewer plugins appear in the download-count data, since not every registered plugin shows up there. | community-plugins.json |
| Change vs. 2026-08-21 | ±0 — but this does not mean downloads stood still for 24 hours. The published JSON itself had not been regenerated between the two fetches, so this read hit the same snapshot as yesterday's page. | community-plugin-stats.json |
Stats updated timestamp |
2025-04-07 19:17 UTC (about 16 months before this measurement) | community-plugin-stats.json updated |
Version on master |
0.5.68 (minAppVersion 0.13.11, isDesktopOnly: false) | manifest.json |
| Latest GitHub Releases tag | 0.5.70 (marked beta) | github.com/blacksmithgu/obsidian-dataview/releases |
The version on master (0.5.68) does not match the latest tag on the Releases page (0.5.70, marked beta). Feature work landing in a proper manifest release looks stopped, but issue replies and small fixes continue. One outside blog put it as "30,000 lines of code that works. Nothing broke... a frozen plugin that does its job is not the same as a broken one"※ — consistent with what we measured here.
※ See the external article in references — quoted as an outside opinion, not our own primary measurement.
Four query modes — from the official README
Dataview offers four ways to query. The samples below are quoted directly from the official README (we did not run these inside Obsidian ourselves — see the verification-scope note below).
A dedicated, SQL-like syntax for common cases.
```dataview
TABLE file.name AS "File", rating AS "Rating" FROM #book
```Embedded directly in a note and evaluated in preview mode.
We are on page `= this.file.name`.The most powerful mode, with full access to the JavaScript API.
```dataviewjs
dv.taskList(dv.pages().file.tasks.where(t => !t.completed));
```The JavaScript equivalent of inline expressions — run arbitrary JS inline.
This page was last modified at `$= dv.current().file.mtime`.
There are two ways to feed it data: YAML frontmatter at the top of a note (fenced by ---), or inline fields written as Field:: Value in the body — both are indexed and become queryable.
---
alias: "document"
last-reviewed: 2021-08-17
thoughts:
rating: 8
reviewable: false
---Basic Field:: Value
**Bold Field**:: Nice!
You can also write [field:: inline fields]; multiple [field2:: on the same line].A security note on DataviewJS
DataviewJS is powerful because it runs at the same permission level as any other Obsidian plugin — meaning it can rewrite, create, or delete files, and make network calls. The README recommends writing your own JS, or only using scripts you understand and trust. Regular DQL queries, by contrast, are sandboxed and cannot make changes to your vault — in exchange for being more limited.
Before you write your first query, decide where the first line lands
Dataview searches and rolls up notes that already exist in your vault; it does not handle the step before that — turning a passing thought into a note in the first place. Simple Memo emails each note to you and appends it straight into the daily note inside your vault folder on iCloud Drive. It is a tool for that very first line, before frontmatter or inline fields ever come into play.
Say the thought and it lands in your inbox and your daily note alike. Free to download.
On desktop? Scan with your phone
FAQ
What does Dataview do?
How widely used is Dataview?
Is Dataview still being developed?
updated timestamp is 2025-04-07 — about 16 months before this measurement, with no newer value since. GitHub's Releases page shows a beta tag, 0.5.70, but manifest.json on master still reads 0.5.68. Visible feature work looks stopped, but issue replies and small fixes continue — it has not stopped working.What's the basic syntax?
Field:: Value in the body. Then write a TABLE, LIST or TASK query inside a dataview code block to list matching notes.Is DataviewJS safe to use?
Measured August 22, 2026. Download and registration counts came from community-plugin-stats.json and community-plugins.json (Obsidian's official distribution, obsidianmd/obsidian-releases), fetched directly into this environment via raw.githubusercontent.com. Version info came from Dataview's own repository (blacksmithgu/obsidian-dataview)'s manifest.json and README.md via the same route; query samples are quoted verbatim from the README. GitHub web-page figures (stars, forks, issues, Releases-page dates) came via WebFetch — direct curl access to github.com itself, obsidian.md, and blacksmithgu.github.io (the official docs site) is blocked in this environment. We did not install Dataview and run queries ourselves this time (vault-contents testing was done separately on another page). This falls short of the "hands-on install plus working query screenshots" bar the content queue originally set for this page — we are noting plainly that this round shipped on direct primary-source retrieval and measured counts only.
Related pages
References & data sources
- blacksmithgu/obsidian-dataview（GitHub） — Dataview's official repository. README.md and manifest.json fetched directly via
raw.githubusercontent.comon 2026-08-22 - obsidianmd/obsidian-releases（GitHub） — Obsidian's official distribution.
community-plugin-stats.json(downloads) andcommunity-plugins.json(registry, 6,840 entries) fetched directly on 2026-08-22 - The Complete Guide to Dataview in Obsidian（dsebastien.net） — External article — source of the "frozen but not broken" framing quoted above (not our own primary measurement)
- Getting started with Obsidian plugins — Our earlier page with the 6,812-plugin count (measured 2026-08-21) and the top-10 ranking
- Simple Memo - for Obsidian — App Store — App Store download page
Obsidian is a trademark of Dynalist Inc. This site is independent of the Obsidian project; Simple Memo - for Obsidian is an independent app by Yurica Inc. Dataview is a third-party plugin developed by blacksmithgu (Michael Brenan); this page does not constitute an endorsement of its developer or rights holder.